My son's eulogy

  

My son, Nathan Jr,  passed away recently, unexpectedly.  We held a Covid compliant funeral and limited attendance wake in Charleston SC, where he lived for the last 15 years. Today, on August 30th, we had a zoom video conference for friends and family who could not travel to Charleston.  The following is what I said about my son, introducing the videos and slide show memorials:

Thank you everyone for coming today, and taking time out of your morning or afternoon, depending on where you are geographically.  Our son Christopher, as many of you have heard, unexpectedly died in his sleep the night of August 15th.  He was 33 years old.  He had a mild case of Covid back in June, but he appeared to get better after a few days.  We do not know why he died, as the autopsy was inconclusive, but the coroner is running more tests that should be complete in mid September.  We may never know exactly what took our son from this world, but we Do Know what a wonderful person Christopher was, and how many thousands of lives he touched in such meaningful, positive, caring, empathetic, helpful, compassionate, funny, inspiring, motivating, passionate, hilarious, insightful, musical, useful, intelligent, genuine, loving and kind ways.  His passing leaves an enormous singularity, a voracious black hole that is tearing at the very fabric of our hearts.

Our son Christopher was magnetic.  People were intrinsically drawn to him, and loved being around him.  His mother and I raised him, and it appears - from the 100s of FaceBook and Instagram posts, from the 100s of his friends in Charleston who loved him, and from the stories his childhood friends keep sharing with me - that we raised an amazing person, a good human, as my friends and former colleagues in Bangalore would say.  Over the last 2 weeks since his passing, I've lost count of the number of men and women who have told me

- I wouldn't have the job I have today, if it was not for your son

- Christopher built my first bike

- Your son helped me move

- I would not have stayed in school in Charleston and graduated if not for your son, because I knew I would not be able to be around him if I left

- Chris walked me home and made sure I got there safely when I had too much to drink

- Your son taught me everything I know about lighting

- Your son trained me as a bartender

- Christopher always listened to me; you always knew he authentically cared

- I could always count on your son when I needed help; I'd call him and he was always right there

- He always made me feel at home, and made me feel that I mattered

I always knew he was an exceptional person, but his passing has clearly shown me the countless lives he selflessly helped.  Our son inspired others, usually in positive, creative, productive, meaningful ways.  He led and encouraged and loved those who were inexorably drawn to him.  Much like my father, Chris's grandfather, his Dzia Dzia, Christopher loved engaging everyone in friendly & lively conversation. No one remained a stranger to our son for long.  Our progeny made everyone feel comfortable and welcomed when he was around them.  If you were having a bad day or having a tough time, everyone in Charleston knew they could count on Christopher to help them feel better, to brighten their day.  It was a gift he had, and he gave generously, warmly, selflessly.  For those of you who did not live in Charleston, or who had not seen Christopher very much since he went to college there, our son did not tolerate fools, bullies, meanness, hatred, or racism.  The inequality, brutality and injustice he witnessed first hand this year, as he and other peaceful demonstrators were needlessly tear gassed, shot at, and attacked in-and-around Marion Square across Calhoun street from where he worked at Big Gun, deeply upset our son, and he was struggling to find ways to make his community a better place for everyone.  

He was real, genuine, caring, confident (sometimes overconfident), fearless, fierce, and loving.  Whether you knew him as Chris, Christopher, little Uzbek, Casmir, Nathan Jr, C Papa, or Papa Prolowski, your life was better, enriched, for having known him.   There will never be another Christopher Joseph, but we all can continue to carry part of him within us, his indomitable spirit, on our journeys through life, putting our best effort forward, helping others, rooting for the under-dog, trying to be a good human, and make the world a better place for everyone.  

Losing my son, is the hardest, most difficult thing I've ever had to endure.  Knowing I will never hear his voice again, be able to hug him, play drums with him, travel with him, get a text from him, laugh with him, build and repair things with him, ride bikes with him, share books and music and art with him, trade dad jokes with him,  build sand castles and sand sculptures, walk on the beach and swim in the ocean or sail with him, open Christmas presents with him, see a concert with him, practice yoga or speak French with him, watch a Chicago team usually lose a game on TV with him,  enjoy a delicious meal and savor a good bottle of wine with him, change flat tires or oil with him, go to Costco with him, hike and rock parkour and climb mountains with him, sip a glass of fine quality whiskey with him, dance at weddings with him, watch Raising Arizona with him... these things and so many more, a lifetime more, are memories now.  Christopher would want us to all go on with life, doing the best we can, listening to and genuinely caring about others, helping the helpless, the little guy, the disenfranchised, assisting those in need.  So even though this is the hardest, most difficult thing, we'll do the best we can, as Christopher would want us to, would expect us to do.

Marketing Failure As Success

Fareed Zakaria's GPS program this morning said it best.
Link here: https://www.arcamax.com/politics/fromtheleft/fareedzakaria/s-2084130
"Trump's true talent is marketing failure as success"

I really cannot add anything more than Fareed's succinct summary here.

Why Umerikuns fall for this immoral, misogynistic, sophomoric, bombastic, uncurious, ignorant, narcissistic, illiterate, con man's rhetoric, is beyond my comprehension.

Balboa Park Botanical Garden

On Sunday, Dr Desert Flower and I had zero interest in watching the Superbowl since it was the New England perennial cheaters against the Philadelphia obnoxious fans underdogs.  [Note: I clearly state "cheaters" not because of just 'deflate-gate', but because of the pattern over years of coach Bellicose's reign, where he sent spies to opposing teams' training camps to video tape their practices, hired professional lip readers to spy on opposing teams' offensive and defensive coaches to gather intel on what plays were coming next, and generally played very dirty, making every under-handed, sneaky, below-board move possible].  Not wanting to spend time in front of the TV watching the glorification of two teams we despised, we decided to go somewhere that normally would have many people, but hopefully would have Much Fewer persons and be far less crowded than than usual.  We decided upon Balboa Park's Botanical Garden, as we'd never been there before and it was less than an hour's drive away.

Much Smaller than Phoenix's Desert Botanical Garden, the Balboa Park garden is cute, compact, a pretty little spot to visit.  It's perhaps 5% the size of Phoenix's botanical garden, but of course much cooler.  The weather was in the mid-to-upper 70s (Fahrenheit), with low humidity in the 30% range, with gentle breezes of 5 mph every now-and-then.  Quite pleasant.  Crowd-wise... it was a different story.  We arrived around noon, and could only find parking in the vast lot behind the Air and Space Museum in Balboa Park.  Not a long walk, but a good 1/2 mile or so to get to the Botanical Garden.  By the time we left 90 minutes later, that large parking lot was jammed full with cars circling like sharks looking for parking spaces.  The crowds were international.  I heard Spanish, Italian, Russian, Czech, Hindi, Mandarin, Japanese and Thai being spoken as we walked through the park and passed various families; International visitors who Also could not care less about the Superbowl spectacle.  We tried eating at 2 of the cafes inside the park and found 30 and 45 minute waits... and not being British, I don't queue very well, so we headed over to Banker's Hill and had a delicious leisurely brunch at Parc Bistro.

Next year, when two teams are playing that we are equally apathetic about, we'll head out to a remote national park and enjoy the serenity and tranquility, devoid of human interference.  = )

полезные идиоты, Useful Idiots

Vladimir Lenin coined a term while he was alive, called the "Useful Idiot" (полезные идиот).  To Lenin, a "Useful Idiot" was a Westerner who agreed with the Soviet view on the world, who idealized the Socialist system, and who willfully over-looked the downfalls of collectivization - downfalls like disincentive to work, disincentive to become an expert on anything, disincentive to be productive (since whether you work or not, you're not going to get ahead... sit back, and let others do the hard work).  A "Useful Idiot" could be manipulated by the Soviet Union to spy, gather information, be counted on as a sleeper cell that the Kremlin could activate when needed... to be useful.

полезные идиоты (Useful idiots)

Now, I don't speak Russian as Roy Moore of Alabama does, to be able to pronounce the phrase correctly.  Roy is apparently very good at speaking to teenage girls, at the mall, at their high school, at the movies, and in his car parked in the darkness behind the restaurant where the girl worked as a waitress.  Roy was also romanticizing about how AWESOME the United States was before the Civil War, when slavery was still legal in the South, families were stronger, and homosexuality "did not exist"... sure Roy, keep convincing yourself of that, in English, or Russian, whichever you prefer.  Had you won your recent Senate race, you'd have been a very полезные идиот.

I've not travelled to Russia, met with their operatives, or colluded with any foreign power to influence the course of a national or local election in the United States as many in the White House staff have done in 2015, 2016, and 2017.  For a very small investment, Vladimir Putin's dictatorship has gleaned a remarkable windfall of apologists, sycophants, Manchurian candidates, "but what abouts...", and shrill voices on Faux News, at all levels.  Impressive R.O.I. for Russia - they probably never thought that So Many Americans would willingly become полезные идиоты for them to leverage.

If you voted for Drumpf, and now you feel remorse or regret for doing so, after the childish buffoon in chief has shown repeatedly how easily baited he is, how his attention span is shorter than most 2 year olds' (even the best behaved ones), how he's going to trash the US economy the say way he ran his own businesses into the ground 4 times, shorting his contractors and declaring bankruptcy 4 times, how know-nothing he is about everything that is not Drumpf-centric, how truth-challenged he is on 99% of everything he says, tweets, expresses and rants about.... if you regret casting your vote for this remarkably unqualified puppet, I can unstained how you're feeling.  I once threw my vote away on Ross Perot, and helped to enable the governor of a rural chicken producing state to become Commander in Chief where he indulged his libido, cozied up to the despicable Newt Gingrich and his "Contract on America", and presided over the dot com bubble that grew the world economy strongly despite Congress's and the Federal Reserve's best efforts to spoil that success.

But if you voted for Drumpf, and you're doubling down on your support, embracing all the lies and vitriol that Faux News spouts out on a daily basis... if you have no regrets whatsoever, and still cling to the unjustified belief that Drumpf will make everything better, then I have only pity for you, and I encourage you to learn Russian as many of the other полезные идиоты have done.  This way, you can better understand what your Russian masters have in store for you, AND, if you learn all the colloquialisms, you'll understand when they are mocking you, snickering, and laughing about how easily manipulated you are as their полезные идиот.

Stay Human, What's In A Name

Dr Desert Flower and I are big fans of Stephen Colbert.  We DVR his show each night, and enjoy watching it the next evening after dinner.  National ratings have shown that DDF and I are not alone, and Late Night with Stephen Colbert is now the highest rated late night show. Not all of Stephen's guests are interesting to us, but the monologue is always great.

Stephen was smart enough to ally himself with the musical genius and genuinely nice person Jon Batiste as his band leader, at the head of Stay Human.  From the very first time I saw the band name Stay Human, I started thinking about its origins, etymology and implications.  The First thing that came to mind, is the obvious concept "remain a human, a nice person, don't become a mean jerk".  And that Might have been what Jon Batiste had meant to imply.

But a single interpretation is kinda boring... so I thought of several other meanings:

Stay, human!  - as spoken by an alien, who has a human as a pet, who is trying to train the human to behave when the alien goes to work.  Stay, sit, fetch, shake... all commands that an obedient human pet could obey, as long as they are smarter than the average alt-right voter.  The Porno For Pyros song Pets made me think of this concept.  (imperative)

Stay, human... Stay, human.... - the heart-felt wish of a werewolf during a full moon who may be visiting his fiancee's parent's home, and who doesn't want to change into a werewolf and kill his new family. (futile)

Stay human - a strategy move, proposed by a D&D player, to move one of his other pieces and leave his human character alone; the human stays still while the halfling or the elf moves forward.  (strategic)

Stay human - when Han Solo and Chewbacca show up at a cantina where they are not welcome, and the owner discriminates against Wookies whom he refuses to serve.  (discriminatory)

Stay Human - an intergalactic B&B where various species from different worlds who are traveling through want to rest.  At Stay Human, they cater to the needs of homo sapiens, and they've earned a 3 nebula rating.  = )  (recreational rental)

Stay, Human - a decision by a Federation of Planets Appellate Court Judge to prevent the Humans from doing something really stupid (again)... similar to how the 9th Federal Circuit Court here on Earth keeps stopping Drumpf's bigoted, misguided, xenophobic and illegal executive orders, declaring a stay on implementation of such idiotic and mean-spirited policies. (legal)

Stay, human? - an incredulous and disappointed trans-species cyborg response who was trying to become more machine like, when his friends and relatives implore him to stop the transformation and remain as a human... even though he was very determined to go through the full transformation to 100% machine.  (incredulous)

Stay human - as nations and political parties become increasingly tribal, isolationist, and hateful towards one another, unable to communicate or find common ground... perhaps through music, Jon Batiste believes he can bring such opposite polarized parties together, keeping everyone as "human" as possible  (aspirational)

Stay Human - the decision of the galactic leader of the sea otters from South Park, to prevent the humans from expanding and propagating throughout the galaxy, and containing them to a smaller sphere of influence.   (societal)

What To Expect After Elbow Surgery

So back in July, I posted here (link here) that I'd screwed up my olecranon bursa on my left elbow by jamming it tween the arm rest and the fuselage of a 4 hour Delta flight to Cincinnati at Just the Wrong angle.  The bursa ruptured, made my arm swell, heat up (infection), and was painful.  If I tried to load it working out with free weights, working in my yard with hedge clippers, or doing yoga (like plank pose) the elbow was painful, wobbly, and no fun.

Bryce Canyon (not how it is not "smooth")

I took methyl prednisone (at the advice and Rx of an Urgent Care doc here in Carlsbad) to make the swelling go do and relieve the pain.  The steroids worked, But, the insidious damage had already begun on the bone itself, following the bursa rupture.  The bursa fluid provided food for naturally occurring bacteria (like staph) to feast upon, and the bones where it spilled (the ulna, for example) provided an Excellent network of a narrow lattice-like maze where the staph could eat, breed, and hide from white blood cells (lymphocytes) whose job it was to envelope and kill the invading bacteria.  Problem is, the white blood cells are larger than the bacteria, and can't get into all the nooks and crannies of the bone lattice work.

The end of each of the arm bones are supposed top be nice, smooth, elliptical shapes, where bursa and synovial fluid sacs keep the hard bone from rubbing against the other hard bone.  The fluid sacs act as cushions, to prevent bone-on-bone damage.  While working out and going to physical therapy with a damaged bursa, the bones were grinding on each other, the bacteria were multiplying and building infected lairs in the bone, and throughout July and August, it kept getting worse.  Bone erosion, bone infection, bursa inflammation... it was a vicious cycle.

So I go to an orthopedist who does an x-ray.  Being versed in radiography, I know how poor the resolution can be on an x-ray, especially when dealing with 3D shapes, since the x-ray is a 2D picture.  X-rays are also notorious for not being able to see much of anything on low density soft tissue and fluids, aka the inflamed bursa and progressing bone infection.  They prescribe more steroids, and tell me to ice my elbow - with a freezing cold ice bath for 15 minutes being the most effective - and continue physical therapy.

As a good patient, I go to PT three times a week, I ice my elbow at least once a day.  It hurts less, but it is still wobbly, and when I try to do heavy lifting (like 180 lbs bench pressing) or heavy curls (like a 65 lbs curl bar) it screams at me in pain, so I stop.  I can do light hedge clipping, but anything requiring significant effort and strength, the left elbow rejects the notion, completely, sends extreme pain signals to the brain, and I halt the activity.

Throughout August I struggle with this troublesome elbow.  It's not getting better, and it seems to progressively becoming slightly worse.  Yoga poses that use my arms become increasingly painful.  Playing drum set is fine for about 5 minutes, but after that, Ouch, Yikes, Stop!  Dancing (with ethanol enhancement) to silly songs like YMCA or Vogue, where hand movements are necessary Truly Aggravate the left elbow and result in pain, swelling, throbbing... driving the infection (that I did not yet know I had) DEEPER into the bone.

Just before Dr Desert Flower and I went to Montpellier France for a work conference at Labor Day that she needed to attend, the elbow started to get red, swollen, and exude puss (yes, very gross).  I go back to my primary care doctor who looks at it, and categorically says "you need dissection, you need packing, you need drainage and vacuum and antibiotics... you Must see an orthopedic surgeon immediately!"  I told her that all orthopedists were booked for at least the next 6 weeks and I had no way of seeing anyone, especially not 2 days before heading to France.  She leapt into action, and made an appointment with Scripps best elbow surgeon that afternoon.  The surgeon re-arranged his schedule, and saw me late that afternoon in his office down in La Jolla.  He took a culture from the oozing elbow, hoping to grow in a lab whatever the infectious agent that was troubling me.  Nothing grew, of course. He also placed me on a massive dose of broad spectrum oral antibiotics (4x a day), to try and kill (or at least subdue / slow the progress) the infection.

He gave me a huge bag of betadine swabs, sterile gauze, ace bandages with velcro, and medical tape to clean and dress the festering elbow while in France.  I dutifully cleaned my elbow with the betadine swabs each day after I showered, and carefully wrapped it in the sterile gauze for the week we were in France.  On the plane ride home, I sat with my arms crossed over my chest, protecting my sensitive elbow from being bumped by other passengers, the passing drink cart, and anything else in the crammed, lemming-like environment that is the coach economy section of international commercial travel, unless you're on Aeroflot.

When I got back to California, I was supposed to have an MRI of my elbow pre-surgery so that the surgeon would know what to expect.  Due to the arcane and byzantine American health care system, the MRI was Still Not approved by United Health care, and I had to waste a day of my life getting an ultrasound of my elbow, instead.  The Scripps elbow ultrasound radiologist took one look at the high resolution image, and said "this is not classical, you'll be getting an MRI".  He pointed to the screen where the contours of Bryce Canyon were showing up on the end of my ulna, instead of the nice smooth egg-shape that was supposed to be there.  Change the angle of the UT probe, and yep, the canyons and valleys and out-cropping were still there, in graphic 3D.  The MRI should confirm it, the radiologist said.  An hour later, United Health Care approved the MRI, and it was schedule for 2 days later, on a Saturday.

The next day (Friday) the Hospital with the MRI machine called, and said they had a last minute opening, am I available?  Unemployed and unable to use my left arm... sure... I was available.  So I got fast-tracked into the MRI the Friday before my surgery on the next Wednesday.  The elbow continued to "weep" out puss over the weekend and right up to the day of surgery.

Holding the vancomycin "hand grenade"

The morning of the surgery, the surgeon's PA (physician's assistant) comes into the pre-op room where I am wearing just a open-backed gown, and asks me "do you know what to expect, what is coming?"  I told her my abbreviated understanding, of surgery, followed by 2 or 3 weeks to let it heal, followed by weeks or months of physical therapy.  "Not quite" was her reply.  She then laid out the whole treatment plan that I had no clue would be so onerous.

It went as follows:
- Wednesday morning surgery to remove the bursa, and pack in antibiotic "beads"
- the infected bone would be removed (picture a medical dremel tool) to 'clean it up'
- stay in the hospital for 2 days, with my arm immobilized in a cast
- go back into surgery on Friday night, and have the beads removed, check on progress of the wound, clean up anything that needs internal clean up
- Saturday, after surgery, if I am stabilized, go home with a fancy portable vacuum pump, that will keep suction on the elbow wound - which they won't stitch closed - to drain fluid and to aid in the healing and closure of the wound over time
- keep the vacuum pump on me for at least 3 weeks, changing the dressing on the elbow with a visiting home health care nurse 3X a week
- install a PICC line (peripherally inserted central catheter) into my right arm, that runs up to my heart's ventricle vestibule, where it will dump out liquid antibiotics that I will infuse at home, twice a day, for 2 hours each dose, for the next 6 weeks
- come back to the doctor's office once a week through this whole process, to check on progress of the wound healing, to take vital signs, and make sure there's no relapse back into infection.

First look at home, after surgery (disgusting, yes)

Ugh!  I had no idea that it would be such a life-halting inconvenience.  If I had been employed at this time, I would have had to take 1/2 days basically EVERY DAY for a month, to deal with this health issue.  Why could they not just stitch up the elbow, like a "normal surgery"?  Then the bursa would not grow back clean and healthy and the bone infection would continue to destroy the ends of my bones.  It needed to heal "from the inside out", and closing the wound before the bursa had fully rebuilt itself from scratch would have a negative prognosis, with re-infection likely.  According to the surgeon, who volunteers much of his time at the local San Diego VA, Afghan and Iraq vets with bone infections from shrapnel fight the infection for months at a time, on and off antibiotics, and the only way to seriously correct the problem is to surgically dissect (dremel tool / bone saw / etc) the infected bone, and then let the body grow it back.

The surgery went fine.  Two hours under general anesthetic.  The final wound was 50 mm long by 20 mm wide by 10 mm deep (or 2" x 1" x 3/8ths of an inch, roughly).  Bursa removed, and 4 mm of ulna dremel tooled off.  Lots of Percocet in the Hospital to deal with the pain.  The re-check 2 days later also went well, beads removed, I was set to leave the hospital on Saturday with my portal vacuum pump... but.. bureaucracy stepped in the way.  Apparently, no one filed the final paper work to get me a pump to take home, send the vancomycin antibiotic to my house, or arrange the home health care nurse visits.  "We're sorry, but you'll need to stay until Monday, or maybe Tuesday, once the paper work is done."  Unacceptable.

The hospital bed was a VERY uncomfortable "smart bed" made by Hill-Rom Versa Care.  It was supposed to "auto adjust" to the patient laying on it.  Instead, all it did, was inflate and deflate, Every Two Minutes, to tilt my pelvis forward and back, legs up slightly, legs down slightly.  It was uncomfortable, disconcerting, disruptive, and impossible to sleep soundly on it.  Whoever the morons at Hill-Rom were who designed this monstrosity obviously never asked for customer feedback.  The nurses Could Not turn off the auto-adjust, or the bed alarmed at the central nurses' station.  Sleeping on this continually moving, hot-and-sweaty, poorly designed, poorly conceived contraption meant that Saturday night in the hospital was a very unhappy & unpleasant & restless experience for me.

Sunday came, and the bureaucrats in "Program Management" continued to drag their feet.  Apparently walking and chewing gum at the same time was a challenge for them.  "We might have a pump delivered after 7pm tonight, but we can't guarantee it... we don't normally discharge patients on weekends".  UGGGHHHH!  And then "Even if you get the pump, we have not gotten any confirmation that you'll get the antibiotics or wound nurse... so it's best to just wait until Monday or Tuesday."  This was not the Riyadh Saudi Arabia Ritz, and I was not enjoying my house arrest.  But my heroic floor nurse "Jose" leapt into action.  Working 7am to 7pm, he forced the system to accept all the discharge paper work, prepped me for going home, and KNEW that if he didn't get me out before the end of his shift, I'd be stuck in the hospital for Sunday night unnecessarily.  Jose's efforts were successful; the pump arrived at 7pm, we left at 730pm, and the antibiotics showed up on our door step via courier at 1030pm.


Then, everyday, from October 16th through November 22nd, twice a day, I had to sit and infuse my IV antibiotics through my right arm, into my heart.  Each infusion took roughly 2 hours.  I watched all of Stranger Things, Luther, F is For Family, the Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me debacle, Dr Whos that I had not seen, and re-read Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber, finished JRR Tolkien's Silmarillion, and started Iain M Bank's "Use of Weapons".  I could not sweat during this time, as perspiration caused the adhesives on the PICC line to loosen and come off my skin.  The PICC line ran straight to my heart, and getting a blood or heart infection was not something I wanted to entertain.  So a month of being sedentary was required.  I tried learning basic Spanish in this time too... but without someone to practice and converse with, I made little progress on this front.

Every week I returned to Scripps in La Jolla to have the nurses, PAs, and doctors tell me how "beautiful" my wound looked, and how well it was healing.  Every 2 or 3 or 4 days, I showered with a large plastic sleeve sealed around my left arm, and baggies that looked like a shower cap over the PICC line dressing.  Today (Thanksgiving) was the very first day I could shower and use Two Hands!  Hooray!

First wet to dry dressing, jammed in

During this time, the first 3 weeks, I had to wear the $22,000 portal vacuum pump around my neck (even sleeping with it, and recharging it as I slept).  Every Monday, a nurse came to change out the vacuum sealed dressing.  Every Thursday, I went to doctor's office in La Jolla to have them change it again.  After 3 weeks, the vacuum pump was discontinued, and I had to do a "wet to dry dressing".

What's a "wet to dry dressing" you might ask?  (I had no idea what it was).  Well, using sterile technique with nitrile gloves and sterile gauze and sterile saline, the patient PACKS in sterile gauze that has been wetted in saline, jammed up into the wound, using sterile cotton swabs as well as nitrile gloved fingers.  Yes, this is unpleasant and mildly painful.  Then, the jammed in gauze is covered by a 2x2 gauze pad, which is then covered by a 4x4, which then gets and ace bandage wrapped around it, to hold it all into place.  All of this is done using just one hand, since the left hand is too far away from the let elbow to be of any assistance.  The Next Day, using sterile gloves, all the jammed in gauze is yanked out, and the process started again - approximately every 24 hours.  Each time the nasty used gauze came out, it looked like a little piece of lemon peel.

At my Nov 22nd visit, I was told the "wet to dry dressings" could be discontinued, and "put a bandaid on it" .. a large 2x2 inch bandaid...  but no more dressing changes.  And the PICC line was removed, leaving an irritated upper right arm where all the dressing adhesives were aggravating my fair skin.  Once again, the nurses and doctors admired how "beautiful" the wound was, and how well it was healing, which was a very strange things to experience from the patient's perspective.  I am glad that the whole wound process is NEARLY over.  I go back in 2 weeks for a followup, and THEN likely, physical therapy will begin, and last through MLK day or Valentines day 2018.  I will be happy to begin working out again, able to sweat, and re-building lost muscle mass... as soon as the bursa is re-built.  I Do Not want to re-infect the ulna or any other bones, so I have to take it easy on my arms and lift nothing more than 5 lbs with my left arm until after my next doctor visit in 2 weeks.

My friend Joe M texted me several Spanish curse words, to help me learn the slang of the language (similar to how I first learned French).  If you want to call me up, or text me in Spanish during the next two weeks, I'd appreciate the practice.  In the mean time, I'll be working on legs and core and aerobic exercise, until I get clearance from my doctor to begin rebuilding strength in my left arm.

Yes, this Thanksgiving I am very thankful that my wife has a good job with good health insurance coverage that paid for this 6 digit surgical experience, and I am very thankful I don't have to get my left arm amputated.  One armed drummers are not very good.

Charcuterie Week

The Discovery Channel has "Shark Week" each year.  But why doesn't the Food Network have Charcuterie Week?

Charcuterie is delicious.  Charcuterie can be found in many of the best restaurants in the US.  Charcuterie has never eaten a surfer, or clogged a fishing net that was not intended to catch a shark.  One does not need a submerged reinforced steel cage to enjoy charcuterie safely.

I did a internet search for "Charcuterie Week" and found a link on FoodRepublic that mentioned "Charcuterie Week" in San Antonio in 2016.  But it did not mention a trade mark or copy write, anywhere in the article.

I think it should be a thing.

To Catch A Predator...

Is it just me, or does overtime the announcers say "the Predators" I think of Bill Hader on SNL, when he parodied the "To Catch a Predator" MSNBC series...  "ohhhhhhhhh"

It makes ir impossible to imagine a saber toothed tiger as a "predator" when Bill Vader played the host so well.

Go Penguins.  Sorry Nashville.  You'l get another chance in the future.

The Walking Ignorant

My colleague Patrick coined a phrase this afternoon while he and I were conversing at work about next week's election:  "The Walking Ignorant".  Patrick is a resident of Georgia, a very smart guy, and he's a genuinely nice person as well as being a good co-worker.  Since "The Walking Dead" is supposed to be based in Georgia originally (now they're up in rural "Alexandria" Virginia, in the drawn-out series, that I honestly wish would just end - they killed off Glen in a meaningless, brutal, and gratuitous death by barbwire covered baseball bat bashing from the current incarnation of what the worst human urges could manifest themselves) so the "Walking Ignorant" label is particularly poignant.

"The Walking Ignorant" is aimed at supporters of Donald J. Drumpf (his real name, not "Trump" that he made up when he was a kid), as it symbolizes their willful ignorance of facts and their embrace of a false equivalency.  Their candidate Donald spouts lies constantly - according to Politifact more than 75% of the time he's lying - but they scream about Hillary Clinton lying about her emails?  Yeah, that's equally as bad.... right?  Or far worse?  No, it isn't.  Politifact rates Hillary Clinton as lying about 25% of the time, or, for those who are not good at math, Drumpf lies three times more than Clinton does, and the lies he tells are massive whopper ridiculous lies.  But "The Walking Ignorant" don't care about facts or lies or the existence of audio recordings of their candidate contradicting himself constantly, repeatedly.

To illustrate how incredibly ignorant and misinformed the typical Drumpf supporter is, all one needs to do is look at this Daily Show piece from Jordan Klepper who perfectly nails it:



The sheer ignorance, willful ignorance of these Drumpf supporters is beyond description.  It is impossible to write more outlandish racist and paranoid dialogue than what this clip depicts.

I wonder if Jordan feels like he loses a little bit of his soul... his life force... his will to live, when he does these kinds of field pieces?  I know I sure couldn't do it without wanting to slap most of these people upside the head who see themselves somehow as 'patriotic Americans' ... when they're really just an illustration of how massively misinformed the masses are within the American electorate.

People, facts matter.  Actual, real facts, not fabrications or things you 'believe are true' but which there is no actual factual basis to justify that they are true.

A Fearful America or a Strong Confident America?

Hillary Rodham Clinton gave a foreign policy speech yesterday in my own backyard, San Diego.  Her audience was full of supporters, many of whom were veterans and their families.  I DVR'ed the speech, and watched it over lunch today.

While I've not been a huge Hillary Clinton supporter, I did admire her unwithering and strong response to the Republican held marathon Benghazi hearings, which showed she was not culpable of anything nefarious in regards to the embassy attack there. Hillary Clinton's San Diego speech on June 2nd was factual, poignant, articulate and informative, even though it was somewhat nationalistic.

You can watch the entire speech here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWYsORT--e4
...and if you're not good at following links, you can just click on it at he bottom of this posting.

But what I will do, dear readers & visitors, is to list the factual gems that I took from the speech, the ones that really hit home, had impact, and (as I watched the video) brought the crowd to their feet.

"Smart & Principled Foreign Policy"

"Choice between a fearful America that's less secure and engaged with he world, and a strong, confident America"

"Donald Trump's (Drumpf's) ideas are not just different, they are dangerous incoherent. A series of bizarre rants, personal feuds, and out right lies."  [I Loved that quote]

"He is not just unprepared, he is temperamentally unfit to hold an office that requires knowledge, stability, and immense responsibility."

"It's not hard to imagine Donald Trump (Drumpf) getting us into a war just because someone got under his Very Thin Skin."

"He says he doesn't have to listen to generals, admirals, ambassadors or diplomats, because he says, and I quote" 'I have a very good brain.'"

"He praises dictators."

"He says he has foreign policy experience because he ran the Miss Universe pageant in Russia."

"He says we are, and I quote: 'A third world country'"
[Having Just visited a third world country in April, I can refute that America is a 'third world country']

"We are not a country who cowers behind walls."

"Moscow and Beijing are deeply envious of our alliances around the world. They have nothing to match them."

"If Donald gets his way, they'll be celebrating in the Kremlin."

"We are lucky to have two friendly neighbors on our land borders; why would he want ti make one of them an enemy?"

"He said this about a war between North Korea and Japan, and I quote: 'If they do, they do; Good luck, enjoy yourselves folks.'"

"Our approach must be 'distrust and verify.'"

"There's no risk of people losing their lives if you blow up a golf course deal."

"He brings the following tools to the table: Bragging, mockery, and composing nasty tweets."

"I don't understand Donald Trump's (Drumpf's) fascination with dictators and strongmen who have no love for America.  He praises China for the Tiananmen massacre, saying it showed strength."

"He said if he was grading Vladimir Putin as a leader, he'd give him an A."

"I will leave it to the psychiatrists to explain his affection for tyrants."

"He said maybe Syria should be a free zone for ISIS?"  ... A Trump (Drumpf) presidency would embolden ISIS."

"This isn't reality television, this is actual reality."

"We cannot put the lives of our troops in Donald Trump's (Drumpf's) hands."

"During the raid to kill Bin Laden, our Seals took the time to move the women and children to safety. Donald Trump (Drumpf) may not get it, but that's what honor looks like."

"It matters when he
- makes fun of people with disabilities
- calls women pigs
- proposes banning an entire religion from our country
- or plays coy with white supremacists"

"America stands up to countries who treat women like animals, or different races, religions, or ethnicities as less human."

"Plenty of Muslims and immigrants serve and fight in our armed forces."

"Making the right call takes a cool head and respect FOR THE FACTS. It takes a willingness to listen to other peoples' points of view with a truly open mind. It also takes humility, knowing you don't know everything because if you are convinced you're always right, you'll never ask yourself the hard questions."

"Imagine Donald Trump (Drumpf) sending you spouses and children into battle."

"Imagine if he had not just his Twitter account, but America's entire arsenal. Do we want someone thin skinned and quick to anger who lashes out at the smallest criticism?"

"Every lesson from our history teaches us that we are stronger together. We remember that every Memorial Day."

"Two very different visions; angry, afraid, and based on the idea that America is fundamentally weak and in decline.  The other is hopeful, generous, and confident in the knowledge that America is great just as we always have been!"

I thought the speech was fact-filled, and addressed the FUNDAMENTAL difference between Hillary Clinton and Donald Drumpf. One is an experience, rational thinker, and experienced diplomat - maybe I don't agree with everything she's done and stood for, but at least I know what those things are.  The other, is a thin skinned, egomaniacal failed business man who inherited his fortune from his rich daddy, and who has no filter on anything he says aloud or on Twitter.


I am somewhat sad that Bernie Sanders will probably not be the nominee for the Democrats, but it will probably help me more on my taxes that he's not the candidate, and, Hillary Clinton will likely get more done facing a Republican congress than Bernie Sanders would have been able to do.

If Donald J Drumpf wins, then this blog will stop in 2017 or 2018, once a post apocalyptic nuclear Winter descends on the northern hemisphere of the planet. Australia and New Zealand would becomeisolated quarantine zones where sheep and mankind live out the rest of their days breathing air through filters to avoid the heavier alpha particles that the jet streams will carry across the equator to rain down a slow radioactive death Down Under, while the Northern Hemisphere plays a day-to-day game of kill-or-be-killed in the smoldering ruins of what is left of North America, Europe, and most of Asia.

Childless Single Men Who Masterbate to Anime

I was watching Chris Hayes this evening, when one of his guests - Rick Wilson, Republican Strategist - said the following about the devout followers of Donald Trump:  "They are (for the most part) childless, single men, who masterbate to anime" .

It made me guffaw!  It made me rewind my DVR.  It made me howl!

19% of the American Electorate are white males over 35 years of age.   The majority of Trump supporters are also caucasian.   Ugh.

Irony or Destiny?

The White House Press Secretary has a really crappy job.  You have to go in front of reporters
everyday who are trying to "scoop" each other, who are probing for information (much of which you can't comment upon) and nearly 1/2 the country despises you.  You're an outsider in the confidential halls of the White House, but a public face to the administration.

So it makes me wonder, is the current press secretary's name ironic, or was it destiny?

josh

jäSH/

informal

verb

1. 1. 

   tease (someone) in a playful way.

   "he loved to josh people"

noun

NORTH AMERICAN

1. 1. 

   good-natured banter.

   
   

ear·nest

ˈərnəst/

adjective

1. resulting from or showing sincere and intense conviction.

   
   

Since I do not believe in destiny, I will say it is coincidental irony, and leave it at that.  = )

Evil Mr. Vaccine

This is how I feel in my neighborhood...

A drumset doesn't work as well as a flute I guess.  = P

This is how I feel in the world, often...

AstroTurf Commenter "Ronny Anderson"

What I am wearing Saturday Night.

JustJoeP is open to commenters who are real, who are not spammers, and who are not trying to sell something / promote their own business's website / troll and be an unpleasant, not nice, unwelcome person.  Comments, criticisms, alternative view points are always welcome, and published.  Sales promotions, spam, and trolls are sent to spam, deleted, or reported.

So it amused me this morning to AGAIN see yet another attempt from spammer "Ronny Anderson" enter my comment screening queue, AGAIN trying to sell his pool filters, and AGAIN showing that English is not his first language.  So once again, I have sent his comment to spam.

"Ronny" (or his chosen "English name" from whatever non-English speaking mother tongue, where he bamboozled his employer into believing that he actually has a mastery of the English language) is persistent.  Five separate occasions since March of 2015, he's tried to cut-and-paste generic comments into my Hayward Pool Filter change out post, with small tweaks each time to see if I'll just mindlessly, robotically, click "Approve" and get the word out about his internet pool filter business.  5 separate times he's failed.  This last attempt, adding "  I googled and found your blog did what you have mentioned results differently. "  I don't understand Ronny the spammer...  "results differently.... what?"  If I was a really devout linguist, I would try and back-track this poorly constructed sentence to see if it's origins might be Burmese, Chinese, Romanian, Portuguese, Slavic, Spanish, Germanic... but I'm not.  It's definitely not grammatically correct English.

I'm not going to mention nor promote the off-shore website that "Ronny" was poorly attempting to promote with his astroturf comments.  I mention it here because I find it amusing that someone can do their job so poorly and yet still make a sustainable living; that many bloggers fall for this astro-turf and just publish it after reading a tiny bit of insincere praise; that "Ronny" keeps trying, for 7 months, to convince me to post his crude cut-and-paste.

Appears that "John Harris" and "Ronny Anderson" may work for the same (or similar) spam firms.

My rejection of spam marketing has nothing to do with me being cheap or not generous.  We're giving out FULL SIZED candy bars tonight for trick or treat to the first 50 kids who come by - then cheap-o bags of costco candy = P  ... I just don't want to promote poorly worded spam that adds little to no value to the post, and that masquerade as actual blog visitor comments.  If you're going to spam me, you need to be better worded, slicker, more value-added... or you'll be deleted and possibly later mocked for your feeble efforts.

Science The Sh*t Out Of It!!

I saw The Martian last week by myself, and then I saw it again with DDF last Sunday.  It takes a very good movie for me to see twice in the theater (The Road, No Country For Old Men, The Hurt Locker, in recent memory... yes, it was lonely living and working in Phoenix).

The Martian is one of those movies that is really truly worth seeing.  I was skeptical going into it, but that skepticism was quickly dashed by excellent science, excellent acting, excellent screen writing, fastidious attention to detail, technical accuracy, and a high value placed upon tenacity, intelligence, survival of the human spirit, grace under pressure, and fantastic movie making.  Even Neil De Grasse Tyson, the "rock star of science" liked it, and he pans / criticizes many science based movies.

The Hermes... next to the ISS currently orbiting the Earth, the longest serving Space Craft in the world.

I liked it the first time, and loved it by the end of the first watching.  By the end of the second watching I have this advisory for parents:
- If you are a parent of a 11 to 17 year old who has show ANY interest in Science or Engineering as a possible vocation, TAKE THEM!!!!  It is better than Apollo 13 was at it's time.  It is realistic, it is brutal (at times), it is heart warming and inspiring.
- If you are a parent of a younger child who cusses like a sailor, or if you, yourself, use "shit", "fuck" and "dick" around the house in front of the children (instead of the anatomically correct "penis" as DDF and I always did when our son was a very little boy a 1/4 of a century ago), then taking them won't be a big surprise.  The word "fuck" is used twice, shouted (appropriately) and then again later.  The word "shit" is used to describe both feces and as an expletive twice & twice as an expletive (2+2 times each, for a total of four times).  And the phrase "dick punch" is introduced by a dismayed Matt Damon upon hearing bad news.  For the record, I don't believe our son ever used the word "dick punch" until perhaps he went to college...  at least he never used it around us.

"According to my alma mater, the University of Chicago, once you grow crops somewhere, you've officially colonized it"

This is a movie for engineers, scientists, mathematicians, program managers who give a damn about the people in their programs and not just profits, botanists, computer scientists, chemists, astrophysicists, fans of the JPL, alumni of the University Chicago, people who believe NASA is not a government boondoggle and that is has INTRINSIC value to all of mankind, fans of international scientific collaborations, thinking humans, explorers, intelligent people, and people who like to see good motion pictures.  It's a story about problem solving, tenacity, valuing intelligence & human life over ideology or politics, and coming together as a species to root for the under-dog.  (as a life long Cubs fan...  I know how that feels).

Excellent quotes that stuck with me:
"I'm going to have to science the shit out of this"
"According to my alma mater, the University of Chicago, they said that once you've planted and harvested crops somewhere, you've officially colonized it...  so I guess, I've colonies Mars"
"Commander Lewis, you have horrible taste in music"
"Rich Purnell is a steely eyed missile man"
"Martinez, no barrel rolls"
"Physicists don't use the word 'fast' when describing someone's velocity"
"You solve one problem, you DO THE MATH, and then if you get it right, you get to solve another problem, and another problem, and then you get to stay alive and come come"

Sean Bean gets to play a role where he neither dies, nor is he a flawed asshole who you want to hate... hooray for Sean Bean as flight director Mitch Henderson!!!

I WISH there had been a movie like this for me, when I was in middle school and High School... instead of just Apocalypse Now, The China Syndrome,  Star Wars and An Office And A Gentleman...  that helped me to form an opinion and vision of what I wanted to do with my life, and who I DID NOT want to be (go into the military, and have Lewis Gusset Jr make my life hell...  oh heck no!!)

S.O.B. - How I feel tonight

A lot more than 17 years...

Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats

Link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iAYhQsQhSY

With a name like Nathaniel Rateliff I expected to see someone who looked like Harry Potter, and not Magoo the Chef in Charleston.

Child's Bucket List?

For the 2nd time in a week, I have heard about my neighbors' kids having "bucket lists", to go someplace during the summer, or to run a lemonade stand before going back to school, or whatever.  And I'm sorry...  I don't get it.  A "bucket list", as I've always known it, is something you write up during A LIFETIME, that you then accomplish Before you die.  Things you want to get done on this mortal coil before leaving it, named after "kick the bucket".

I do not understand how a 5 year old boy, or an 8 year old boy, can or should have a "bucket list", or even be aware of what a bucket list is / might be.  These kids are Not on the "Make A Wish" Foundation's radar.  They're normal healthy kids.  Do elementary and pre-schoolers know what a living will is?  A DNR?  (and not the "Department of Natural Resources") Do they have any concept of Medicare?  Social Security? Osteoarthritis? Atherosclerosis? A colostomy? (if none of their older relatives have one) A PSA test result? Hypertension? Saving for retirement?  No.  Five and 8 year old's long term memory is not much better than the average puppy who thinks that 5 minutes after it's owner leaves the house, that she's NEVER coming back again (so begin howling, or chew through a wall, or a couch, or < insert coping mechanism here > )... unless their middle name is Wolfgang and their last name is Mozart.  So if an elementary school aged child doesn't understand the good along with the bad, the pain it takes to achieve the rest & relaxation later, why fill their little heads with the notion of "a bucket list"?

To me, it is just wrong.  Wrong intended, wrongly emphasized, misplaced and premature.  That which is gained easily (or inherited, or lottery winnings), is not usually appreciated.  That which is gained through hard work, effort, focus & determination, is much more appreciated, highly valued, and usually not squandered.  Save the "bucket list" for those who are approaching their sunset years, and have worked the majority of their lives to be able to afford to indulge in such a list.  A 5 or 8 year old has no such sense of sustained endurance, decades of delayed gratification, and long term achievement, unless that 5 or 8 year old has a TARDIS, can repair their own telomeres, and has chosen to remain an age where they can't drive, vote, rent a car, see a R rated movie, or have a mature conversation with their peers.  Wait another 60 or 70 years to begin to check items off your "bucket list", kids.

The Good Ship Venus

My brother in law shared this with me...   it is hilarious!  (parental warning though, don't listen to it with small children around, unless you want to be asked LOTS of questions and have to explain a whole bunch of sexually explicit material to the young listener)



 Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLotX3HE-4c 
Link again (since youtube removes it): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLotX3HE-4c Enjoy!

Delta, Zone 1, Isn't

I flew Delta Airlines recently, and I was surprised and a little bit amazed to be BOTH TSA-Pre-check AND "Zone 1" boarding group.  "Zone 1"? I thought to myself....   that's reserved for Diamond and Platinum level frequent flyers (neither of which I am anymore, nor have been for a decade), or military in uniform (thank you for your service) or people traveling with children under 2 years of age, or those "needing extra time / assistance in boarding".  What luck!  Perhaps, in the Monopoly Game of Life, there was a computer glitch / error in my favor...

No such luck.  On Delta, Zone 1 isn't one.  Zone 1 is ACTUALLY Zone 3.  FIRST they board "PREM" ....  "PREM" is first class, million milers, Delta employees (Pilots, etc, who are not flying the plane).   Then, next is "SKY" (short for "Sky Priority"), as the 2nd boarding group.   In Europe, where Silver matters on Delta, Silver status Frequent Flyers (which I am one, after flying to Bangalore and then to Warsaw in the last year, both in Coach, narrowly avoiding Deep Vein Thrombosis) are also included in "SKY".  But in the good ole USA, Silver means bumpkus.  Silver, ever since Delta bought Northwest and inherited more frequent flyers than their Medallion Club lounges and priory boarding queues could handle, have ignored and jettisoned their Silver status members as "nobodies".  Gold gets you 1 bag free, and a listing in the "SKY" queue.  Silver, "back of the line bud!"...  persona non grata.  One of the unwashed, sweaty masses.

After printing my boarding pass the day before travel, and seeing I was "Zone 1" I did not check a bag and took my 22" roller bag on, thinking "I'll have a place in the over-head, surely!  I am 'Zone 1" after all!"  [Printing, how archaic you say?  Why not get it emailed to me, and scan it at the gate?  Well... once you've tried to do that, and you're in Zone 3 or 4 and they're out of over-head room, so they have to gate check your bag...  the only way to do it with a cell phone electronic boarding pass is to walk with the gate agent back up the jet way, so she can re-scan your pass with you phone, issue you a gate-check baggage claim ticket, and then walk back down to the plane, wasting another 10 minutes of your life that you could have been AIS [Ass In Seat] and about to fall asleep for the 4 hour flight back home. Having a PRINTED boarding pass, you just give the gate agent the printed paper, and they come back to you with a baggage claim ticket.]

So all the PREMs boarded.  Then the HOARD of SKYs boarded.  Then, when "Zone 1" boarded, the plane was more than 1/2 full, most of the over-heads were already taken, and I had to find a place for my bag 4 rows behind where my seat was... which is such a joy when getting off the plane and no one is polite enough to let you go back 4 rows.  The poor bastards in Zone 2 were all screwed.  No more over-head space.  "Zone 2" on Delta = "Zone 4" on all other airlines.  Or "Boarding group D" on Southwest.  Despicable how Delta ineptly tries to manipulate language to get the beleaguered passenger to temporarily feel better. Just call it "Zone 3" and treat your passengers like grown ups, your stupid Georgia Peaches!

On top of this, I find out in April of this year that EVERY state in which I have to travel for work, will now have State Income Tax withheld, for each day I am traveling to that state.  So in 2016, I'll get to file 5 or 6 State tax returns, to get my money back.  Joy!!!!!!  So much incentive to be a happy traveling employee!!!!  So customer centric!!!  (at Accenture, where a friend of mine works, the COMPANY Files For the employee, in the multiple states to which they have been dispatched to do work for the company..   but not so at my corporate leviathan).  Lamer than a 2 legged dog.